This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2001-275621, Sep. 11, 2001; No. 2001-275623, Sep. 11, 2001; No. 2001-293943, Sep. 26, 2001; No. 2001-295122, Sep. 26, 2001; No. 2001-305793, Oct. 1, 2001; and No. 2001-308927, Oct. 4, 2001, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, and an electronic apparatus stand on which the electronic apparatus can be mounted in a specific position, and to an electronic apparatus stand system including the electronic apparatus and electronic apparatus stand.
One known electronic apparatus stand system is configured so as to enable an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, to be mounted on a stand in a specific position in order to display the electronic apparatus as, for example, an interior set, in a room.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-69388 has disclosed an electronic camera system which enables an electronic camera to be mounted on a camera stand with a charger in such a manner that the front of the camera faces to the front of the stand. The electronic camera system is capable of charging the secondary battery of the electronic camera mounted, setting the correct date in the electronic camera, causing the strobe to emit light to enhance the wake-up function, turning on the backup light for indicating the charging time, and others.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-333046 has disclosed an electronic camera system which enables an electronic camera to be mounted on a camera stand with a charger in such a manner that the back of the camera faces to the front of the stand. The electronic camera system is capable of charging the secondary battery of the electronic camera mounted, causing the liquid-crystal display section at the back of the camera to display images (or make a slide show) during or after charging, and others.
As described in the above publications, in a conventional ordinary electronic camera system, the electronic camera is mounted on the camera stand in such a manner that the camera faces either forward or backward. Depending on the direction in which the electronic camera is mounted, a limitation is imposed on the functions the electronic camera can achieve.
For example, in a configuration with the front of the camera mounted so as to face to the front of the stand as in the electronic camera system disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-69388, no consideration has been given to the way of, for example, viewing images while displaying the images on the liquid-crystal monitor at the back of the camera, with the electronic camera mounted on the stand.
Furthermore, in a configuration with the back of the camera mounted so as to face to the front of the stand as in the electronic camera disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-333046, no consideration has been given to the way of, for example, taking pictures with the electronic camera mounted on the stand.
That is, in the prior art, making good use of various functions the electronic camera intrinsically has, including photographing, reproducing, image transferring, and printing functions, has been considered to be impossible in a state where the electronic camera is mounted on the camera stand.
In addition, with the electronic camera mounted on the camera stand, this imposes restrictions on the operation of selecting and setting the operation mode (such as photograph mode or reproduce mode) to carry out the functions. That is, depending on the direction in which the electronic camera is mounted on the camera stand, controls (including buttons) provided on the electronic camera are arranged in a place difficult to operate, or the liquid-crystal monitor for displaying the selected or set operation mode is covered by the wall of the stand. This caused the following problems: the operation mode was liable to be selected or set erroneously, and the operation mode displayed on the liquid-crystal monitor was difficult to check visually.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome the above problems by providing an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, a stand, and an electronic apparatus stand system which have the advantages described below:
a. The direction in which an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, is mounted on a stand can be changed and therefore it is possible to make good use of the electronic apparatus.
b. A suitable operation mode is selected and set according to the direction in which an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, is mounted on a stand.
c. Even when an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, is mounted on a stand either in a first direction in which the front of the electronic apparatus faces to the front of the stand or in a second direction in which the back of the electronic apparatus faces to the front of the stand, electric power is supplied to the electronic apparatus properly.
d. Even when an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, is mounted in a lengthwise position on a stand, the image is displayed in an upright position by display means and therefore is easy to see.
e. Even when an electronic apparatus, such as an electronic camera, is mounted on a stand in an upward- or downward-inclined manner, the image displayed by the liquid-crystal display is easy to see.
f. There is no photographing limit due to the consumption of the battery and therefore photography can be continued stably for a long time.
g. The monitoring function can be achieved with the photographing operation unnoticed.
h. The camera can be examined automatically without any problem while the camera is in use.
i. Defective pixels can be sensed accurately without being affected by the temperature.
To achieve the above object, an electronic apparatus, a stand, and an electronic apparatus stand system according to the present invention have characteristic configurations as described below. Characteristic configurations other than those described below will be referred to in the embodiments.
(1) An electronic camera system according to the present invention is an electronic camera system comprising an electronic camera and a camera stand which is provided so as to enable the electronic camera to be mounted thereon and includes a power supplying section for supplying power to the electronic camera mounted, the electronic camera system characterized in that the electronic camera is formed so as to have an exterior shape capable of being mounted on the camera stand, and the camera stand is formed so as to have an exterior shape which enables the electronic camera to be mounted either in a first direction in which the front of the camera faces to the front of the camera stand or in a second direction in which the back of the camera faces to the front of the camera stand.
(2) An electronic camera according to the invention is an electronic camera system which is capable of being mounted on a camera stand and which receives power from a power supplying section provided on the camera stand, with the camera mounted on the camera stand, the electronic camera characterized by having an exterior shape capable of being mounted on the camera stand either in a first direction in which the front of the camera faces to the front of the camera stand or in a second direction in which the back of the camera faces to the front of the camera stand.
(3) A camera stand according to the present invention is a camera stand which is capable of mounting an electronic camera thereon and includes a power supplying section for supplying power to the mounted electronic camera, the camera stand characterized by being formed so as to have an exterior shape which enables the electronic camera to be mounted either in a first direction in which the front of the camera faces to the front of the camera stand or in a second direction in which the back of the camera faces to the front of the camera stand.
(4) A system according to the invention is a system comprising an apparatus with a specific function and a stand with a power supplying section which supplies power to the apparatus mounted, the system characterized in that the apparatus is formed so as to have an exterior shape capable of being mounted on the stand, and the stand is formed so as to have an exterior shape which enables the apparatus to be mounted thereon either in a first direction in which the front of the apparatus faces to the front of the stand or in a second direction in which the back of the apparatus faces to the front of the stand.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.